Artist & writer: poetry and prose. Univ of London. Contemporary art critic & extremist, so as best to enjoy the strange, the disturbing & the deranged + vodka. https://jakobzaaiman.substack.com/ (always free to read) https://medium.com/@jakob-zaaimanhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3muhlgco77224No Longer Human (Osamu Dazai) Not quite a nothing read, but wildly overrated all the same. Labelling aside, what is Yozo’s claim? Mainly a belief that his essential timidity & perceived aimless indolence mysteriously disqualifies him from human beinghood, but his logic doesn’t really make01 Sep 2026 14:00 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhlgco77224https://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mu4rc636wk2mLovely Molly (2011) Great on paper but hard work to turn into a movie. And how best to describe the sequence of events? Molly has been sectioned before - has recovered (?) – yet is now suicidal. Not at all clear what the problem is. She claims to be haunted – even trying to film the unseen on a mini28 Aug 2026 06:46 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu4rc636wk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mtxns2copc2zEvil Dead Burn (2026) Centred this time (vaguely) around family malfunctioning, everyone at each other’s throats, allowing for flare-ups, hostility & violence. The movies are now essentially gorefests with occasional jump scares + apocalyptic mayhem + inconclusive endings. Anything interesting?26 Aug 2026 06:00 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtxns2copc2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mttkzp4q422dThe Empty Man (2020) High production values & good storytelling, but as so often in horror, the different elements can’t quite coalesce, so we’re left wondering. Core theme begins with an encounter with some form of Himalayan spider-skeleton – a horrific version of a multi-armed Tantric24 Aug 2026 15:00 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mttkzp4q422dhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mtiqtpgaik23Anish Kapoor. Has always found a way to combine the unthinkable with the attractive. Doesn't mean he can tell a better story, just that he's sure to intrigue a goodly proportion of the disaffected. (Can't not like 'Svayambhu' (2007)? It works.)20 Aug 2026 07:45 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtiqtpgaik23https://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mtgw6if4b22sBest Ethan Hawke movie: Bar one silly scene (stuff going on behind Ethan's back but not when he turns) SINISTER (2012) is magnificent & depending on your frame of mind, extremely disturbing. Ethan perfectly portrays a nerd out of his depth. Love the idea 'if you've seen it, it's already too late'.19 Aug 2026 14:15 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtgw6if4b22shttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mtekgi7grs2yJeremy Cooper: BRIAN (2023) If you live in London & move in arty circles you’ll meet people like Brian, & you may even be Brian yourself. Middle-aged to elderly, Brian lives a nondescript asexual life full of routine; work at the council, food, telly, laundry; no real friends, no strong interests,18 Aug 2026 15:39 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtekgi7grs2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3msuu57p3ic2jAna Mendieta (1948-1985) a performance artist, using herself and her body to create tangential narratives, some apparently plain, others impenetrably obscure. Like all great performance artists, she pointed north while heading south. She seemed to be wanting to be earthbound, deploying mud12 Aug 2026 09:51 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3msuu57p3ic2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mss5j4txxk2pPossum (2018) Easy to watch yet difficult to follow, as there are no clear narrative or modal anchors. Realism or delirium? Which means in turn that it would be a mistake to spoil the ambiguities with clumsy decoding. Why? Because nothing is obvious, and we float between11 Aug 2026 08:00 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mss5j4txxk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mscs4ug6wc2sRose of Nevada (2025) Following on from Enys Men (2022), director Mark Jenkin is inviting us into a dark & distant realm of rural life. Difficult to follow first viewing, as it’s not always clear what people are referring to (even though I knew the plot outline beforehand); though much easier05 Aug 2026 05:27 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mscs4ug6wc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mrerrkuoe227Bait (2019) Like Aftersun (2022), Bait is at heart slight, & praise for it (cf Mark Kermode in Guardian) is way overblown. Little Cornish fishing village; incomers, modernisation, tensions, tourism, resentment; the usual. That’s the gist of it. These issues are not nothing,24 Jul 2026 07:00 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrerrkuoe227https://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mra24xfxns2gCuckoo (2024) Diabolic sound control, mixed with eugenics! What on earth is sinister Herr König up to? Regular rewatching will not help resolve these issues, which is what makes this a great movie. Vomiting hotel guests, seizures, confusion, strange noises, hooded figures, murder, the lot.22 Jul 2026 09:47 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mra24xfxns2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mr5vowocvk2cObsession (2026) Not clear what the title refers to, plot-wise. Who exactly had the ‘obsession’? Key pivot is a ‘wish-fulfilling’ ceramic stick which grants a wish to whomsoever activates it by breaking it open; timid, uncertain, shy silly-ass Bear wants Nikki – self-assured,21 Jul 2026 13:22 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr5vowocvk2chttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mr53iy3m522mBackrooms (2026) A nightmare angle on strip mall retail, where Clark, a struggling furniture store owner, descends from basic financial & marital jeopardy into both psychosis plus something like an inexplicable extra-dimensionality.21 Jul 2026 05:33 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr53iy3m522mhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mqtaehdvtk22Haven't seen the Odyssey & probably won't: it sounds incredibly boring; Nolan's films are worthy but dull. Any movie pre-modern city life (neon, crime, mental illness, loose women) is sure to be tedious. Let's see; not holding my breath. (Hard not to be wearied even by the mere sight of these two:)17 Jul 2026 07:34 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqtaehdvtk22https://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mpshxe5eqs2wRepetitive, dull & dishearteningly vapid, Jeanne Dielman takes forever to tell us nothing at all. It breaks a cardinal rule of the avant-garde (which no artist ever remembers) 'don't bore your audience'. Experimentation is great but more often than not it fails. Chantal Akerman was no Joseph Beuys.04 Jul 2026 06:52 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpshxe5eqs2whttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mpnhuequvs2wAnna is fascinated by her rear end, as well as by her nether regions - in all their insinuative glory - & why wouldn't you be? I am fascinated by them as well. Ann Uddenberg, Swedish contemporary artist. (An artist with somewhere to explore & those like Tracey Emin with nowhere.)02 Jul 2026 07:07 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpnhuequvs2whttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mo5ptjqrmc2nHockers greatest was 'A Bigger Splash' (1967); still & hyperreal & oddly haunting; a strange moment fixed in timelessness. His other stuff is pleasant but forgettable. That he was a great raconteur & a very good sort goes without saying. Go well, old boy - you did good! - & thanks for the Splash.13 Jun 2026 07:22 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo5ptjqrmc2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mlnaqdvz5c2xTaste - a sense of visual beauty - is about education, learning to get a feel for what's attractive & finely crafted. But 'art' - serious contemporary - has long since moved into narrative. Compared with narrative (Warhol, Beuys, Koons, Marina, Cindy, Bacon etc) beauty is trivial.12 May 2026 07:18 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlnaqdvz5c2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mllndv5bg22vHotel (2004) Everything clean, sharp, quiet and in focus; so plenty of time for us to study Irene (Franziska Weisz) - a receptionist - in all her icy beauty. The hotel has guests but feels both empty and abandoned. A passage leads to a dead-end wall offset by a table with a vase of dark /11 May 2026 15:59 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mllndv5bg22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mldy46cjjs27Only interested in movies that confuse & disturb, so not a fan of Scorsese, Pluribus, OBAA & the like. Majestyk (repeat) for pure enjoyment; still processing Hotel (it's a beauty) & of course Andrea Riseborough is another goddess. Mainstream go away.08 May 2026 14:50 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mldy46cjjs27https://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mjep7n4fvc26Nothing is more fun than commercial art signposting a realm you didn't know existed. Welcome.13 Apr 2026 10:53 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjep7n4fvc26https://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mjegahfhf22aBuying a book based on its cover: not something I do but how could one resist a cover like this!? (Now happily in my library & a great read.)13 Apr 2026 08:12 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjegahfhf22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3miqrx7u4422uClassical horror (slashers, scream queens, jump scares) are dull as hell; these are more to my taste; disturbing, confusing, unsettling, bizarre.05 Apr 2026 12:49 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3miqrx7u4422uhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3migb5lstbc2tNarrative shift in Industry (S04) from an insider look at high-end day-trading to quasi-political ‘drama/thriller’ exposes an inherent weakness; other than erupting with frenzied deals, trading floors tend to be populated by jittery dullards.01 Apr 2026 08:21 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3migb5lstbc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mhqjlnjzdk2iNorwegian forest kittens (Wegies) in training; watch this short till the end; you'll understand how much kittens love to fight with other kittens, on the furniture & in the garden. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_Yay_Phd_fA23 Mar 2026 16:54 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhqjlnjzdk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mh6d3ghmos2aAd for psychiatric facility, found in the back of the sort of magazine you can pick up off the coffee table in a waiting room. & a tribute to a great outsider musician, Cecil Dill. Works are portals to strange & disturbing worlds beyond AI in any form. https://images.saatchiart.com/saatchi/76117/art/2857724/1927617-IIQGREQI-7.jpg16 Mar 2026 11:10 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mh6d3ghmos2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3mev2idy6ek2rNot necessarily - there's decorative art & there's narrative, & then there's stuff which doesn't quite rise to either level; I'm not a fan of the idea it's art because someone labelled it that; it is possible with some effort to discern art from not-art.15 Feb 2026 07:51 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mev2idy6ek2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3messnxvnx227Tracey is not an artist; she's a self-publicist with bits of crafting attached. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever, it's good fun, but it's not art. Contemporary art is about discovering new realms of unusual experience & inviting viewers inside. (Article free to read as always) tinyurl.com/yc4uzu55 https://jakobzaaiman.substack.com/p/its-just-an-unmade-bed-why-tracey-emin-amongst-others-fails-as-an-artist-252d2b6c280d14 Feb 2026 10:26 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3messnxvnx227https://bsky.app/profile/alldaynight.bsky.social/post/3meqad26zw22mNot meant to be cruel to a very successful poet but Jorie Graham's output over the last few years is very weak sauce. She is channelling Sam Beckett's 'Not I' stream of consciousness voice & like all late Beckett, is not very interesting/meaningful to say the least. Mystifying.13 Feb 2026 09:52 +0000at://did:plc:davbchs7ms3yhuqynmd7rad2/app.bsky.feed.post/3meqad26zw22m